Black Rock Sands BOTA Activation

Jump to BOTA Black Rock Sands Details of Activation and Map & Logbook

Black Rock Sands

Having activated SOTA GW/NW-067, Moel-y-Gest, on the 11/07/2026, I thought I’d have a go at operating from Black Rock Sands. Whilst this isn’t my first operation from the beach, south west of Porthmadog, it would be my first activating it as a BOTA (Beaches on the Air) site.

Black Rock Sands is a two mile long open and wide beach that can be driven on to. It runs from the Avon Glaslyn, just west of Borth-y-Gest, towards Criccieth. At low tide you can walk the whole beach and on to Criccieth beach and then to the castled town of Criccieth itself.

The sea along the beach is shallow with a gentle gradient that makes it a great place for families to introduce their children to sea bathing. The sand dunes behind the beach are a Site of Special Scientific Interest, though they don’t qualify as a POTA park.

The area around Black Rock Sands is a very popular area for holidays makers to stay and there are plenty of camp sites in the area.

Details of Black Rock Sands activation

Callsign used
G7LFC

Weather conditions
Sunny intervals, about 26-28 Degrees C, with a gentle breeze.

Equipment used
Xiegu G90 with GZF-1 Desktop stand with cooling fan, DigiRig Mobile data interface, Ampro single-band antennas, 14″ Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Core i7 with 16GB, EcoFlow RIVER 2 power station, KitBrix waterproof go-bag with an 8L Really Useful Box inside.

Software used
HAMRS Pro logbook, WSJT-X 3.0.1 64-bit data modes software, BktTimeSync for time synchronisation, Microsoft Windows 11 and HamDeck Grid Distance Calculator.

Bands, modes and power used
20m and 15m using 10w of FT8.

Station setup
The station was setup on an table, beneath an awning attached to the side of the van, using an Ecoflow power station as the power source and an Ampro single band antenna mounted on top using a three-way mag-mount. There was some sand blowing around and this did get everywhere, but everything seems to have survived.

How did the activation go?
This activation was a doddle, working forty-six stations in just over two-hours. The majority of contacts were into Europe, but a contact was made into Eastern Brazil, one into Asiatic Russia and another into the Middle East.

When I attempted to upload my log to the Beaches on the Air website I found, to my surprise, that Black Rock Sands hadn’t been given a reference. I have now applied for a reference and I will update this post as soon as I receive it.

Notable contacts
Best DX was PW8BR, located in eastern Brazil. A61CK, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and RK4PR were also classed as DX, being outside of Europe.

Pros and cons
Operating from the beach is a special experience as it affords the operator some really good propagation. Firstly, there is the wide open space that is normally free from QRM (man-made interference). This makes it easier to detect and interpret the signals of weaker stations. Then there is the lack of nearby structures to attenuate transmitted and received signals. Then, there’s the big one – the presence of salt-water nearby. This is known to greatly enhance propagation. Salt water serves as an excellent ground plane, its high conductivity enhancing signal strength and reducing losses.

Observations and lessons learned
I hate the beach, generally, the sand gets everywhere. That hasn’t always made me the most popular Dad, but Mum has made up for it with trips to the beach whilst Dad went for a walk. This activation was no different with sand in the computer keyboard and radio. However, there doesn’t appear to have been any lasting damage. Maybe next time I’ll operate from inside the van, but this wasn’t an option this time as we were in the middle of a heat wave.

Black Rock Sands Map & Logbook